Chocolate winter wonderland
A few years ago I have invited my family over to my apartment for a Christmas dinner and it has became our tradition from that day on. This year me and my husband cooked a Christmas dinner together.
He was in charge of the appetizer and a part of the main course but the most important part of the Christmas dinner for me was of course the dessert. I started thinking about the dessert a month before the Christmas dinner, because I wanted to make something special.
I wanted to show how much I have learned this year about tempering chocolate and chocolate desserts in general.
I remembered watching a video that showed how to make chocolate bowls with water balloons. I always wanted to try this and never had the opportunity and now was the perfect time. The bowls come out beautiful and without any trouble.
The question now was what to put in the chocolate bowls. I decided to go with the chocolate and orange mousse. The addition of orange was necessary, because the chocolate itself was too heavy and it needed something to lighten it up. I also added some fresh orange segments for extra acidity and lightens.
The only thing that was missing in the dessert was some crunch. For texture I added walnut praline and little meringue cookies. The cookies looked great and gave the dish that needed crunch and the praline was slightly salty and bitter.
For the finishing touch I added a chocolate Christmas tree, that I made a few days in advance. I also added some store bought sugar snowflakes. You can use any decoration that you like and there is a wide range of good sugar decorations in shops, or you can make your own.
I know that a recipe seems complicated and there are a lot of steps and components, but it is all worth it when you taste this dessert. You can skip making the chocolate bowls and serve the dessert in a glass or in a bowl. I hope you give it a try and tell me how it turned out.
For the Christmas trees, heat the leftover tempered chocolate back to 30-31°C (88-90°F) and pour it in the piping bag (I would recommend that you use a template of Christmas trees under the parchment paper or acetate foil).
Pipe out the trees on the parchment paper or acetate foil, sprinkle over some sugar sprinkles and set aside. When the chocolate sets, gently lift the trees and store in an airtight container.
Making the chocolate-orange mousse:
Cut the chocolate in tiny pieces and put in the heat-proof bowl, set aside. Pour 80 grams of heavy cream in a pan, add the vanilla extract, and bring to the boil. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and set aside for 2 minutes. Stir until the chocolate is incorporated, basically you have made a chocolate ganache here. Cool the ganache to room temperature. Whip the rest of the heavy cream (340 grams) to soft peaks. Add the whipped cream to the cooled chocolate ganache in three additions, stirring gently after each addition until all the cream is incorporated. Grate the orange zest over the mousse and stir. Cover and put in the fridge until set (about 30 minutes).
Making the meringue cookies:
Preheat the oven to 95°C (200°F).
Place the egg whites in a bowl of your electric or hand mixer and whisk until foamy, add a few drops of fresh lemon juice to the egg whites (this helps with the stabilization of the egg whites). Slowly begin adding the sugar a tablespoon at the time. Whisk until the sugar is completely incorporated. Take the small amount of mixture between you fingers, the mixture should not feel gritty, if it is whisk more until the mixture feels smooth. The meringue should be glossy and should hold stiff peaks.
Place the meringue in a piping bag (color the piping bag from inside with food coloring for colorful meringues) with a star attachment or you can just use a spoon. Pipe or spoon small amounts of meringue on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place in the oven and bake for 45 minutes or until the meringue looks dry (do not open the oven). Turn the oven off and leave the meringues in the oven for 1 hour or until completely cooled.
Making the walnut praline:
Put the sugar in a small pan and place on medium heat, when the sugar starts to melt shake the pan a few times to ensure that all of the sugar melts. Cook until the sugar is dark amber, shaking to ensure even browning of the sugar. Meanwhile place the walnuts on baking tray on top of the parchment paper.
When the sugar is dark amber pour it over the prepared walnuts, tilt the baking pan so that the caramel spreads around the pecans and evens out. Sprinkle over salt and set aside to cool.
When the caramel is cool enough break it into pieces and place it in the food processor. Blitz until you end up with fine crumbs.
Making the orange segments:
Peal the orange with the knife, slicing the skin away from the flesh. Remove any remaining white pith then cut between the membranes to slice away segments of the orange (Here is a step by step tutorial of segmenting an orange).
Assembly:
Place two scoops of chocolate mousse in a chocolate bowl . Place two orange segments at the sides of the chocolate mousse. Add the meringue cookies and sprinkle over some of the walnut praline. Place your decorations and stick the chocolate Christmas tree in the mousse, sprinkle with icing sugar.
He was in charge of the appetizer and a part of the main course but the most important part of the Christmas dinner for me was of course the dessert. I started thinking about the dessert a month before the Christmas dinner, because I wanted to make something special.
I wanted to show how much I have learned this year about tempering chocolate and chocolate desserts in general.
I remembered watching a video that showed how to make chocolate bowls with water balloons. I always wanted to try this and never had the opportunity and now was the perfect time. The bowls come out beautiful and without any trouble.
The question now was what to put in the chocolate bowls. I decided to go with the chocolate and orange mousse. The addition of orange was necessary, because the chocolate itself was too heavy and it needed something to lighten it up. I also added some fresh orange segments for extra acidity and lightens.
The only thing that was missing in the dessert was some crunch. For texture I added walnut praline and little meringue cookies. The cookies looked great and gave the dish that needed crunch and the praline was slightly salty and bitter.
For the finishing touch I added a chocolate Christmas tree, that I made a few days in advance. I also added some store bought sugar snowflakes. You can use any decoration that you like and there is a wide range of good sugar decorations in shops, or you can make your own.
I know that a recipe seems complicated and there are a lot of steps and components, but it is all worth it when you taste this dessert. You can skip making the chocolate bowls and serve the dessert in a glass or in a bowl. I hope you give it a try and tell me how it turned out.
Chocolate winter wonderland
(Makes 10)
Time:
Preparation: 1 hour
Cooking: 15min
Baking: 45min
Cooling: 1 hour
For the chocolate bowls and Christmas tree:
- 300g dark couverture chocolate
- 220g dark chocolate
- 420g heavy cream
- orange zest from 2 oranges (or to taste)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 room temperature egg white (approximately 35g)
- 70g icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- a few drops of lemon juice
- 50g granulated sugar
- 15 walnuts
- pinch of salt
- 2 medium sized oranges (use the ones that you zested)
- sugar snowflakes
- tempered chocolate
- icing sugar
First you will need to blow up 10 water balloons. Prepare two baking sheets and line them with parchment paper.
After that you will need to temper the chocolate:
Chop 225 grams of dark chocolate in medium sized pieces, put in the heat-proof bowl (make sure it is large enough to dip in the balloons) and set aside. Chop the remaining 75 grams of the chocolate in tiny pieces and set aside. Put some water in a pot and heat gently to a simmer. Place the bowl with 225 grams of chocolate on top of the pot, the water should not touch the bowl. When the chocolate starts to melt, stir and check the temperature. Keep checking the temperature until it reaches 45-48°C (113-118°F). When the chocolate reaches the right temperature take the bowl of the heat and stir in the remaining chocolate. The temperature should drop. Stir the chocolate gently to cool until it reaches 27°C (81°F). This may take a while, depending on the room temperature. When the chocolate is cool enough place the bowl back on the pot of simmering water and heat back to 30-31°C (88-90°F).
Take the water balloon and dip it in the chocolate in four motions: front-back-left-right (see this video for more information) and then out on the prepared baking sheet with parchment paper. Do this with all 10 balloons. Set the balloons in a cool and dry place for the chocolate to set. The chocolate should set relatively quickly if it was tempered correctly. I left the balloons to set for an hour. After the chocolate is set, take the scissors and gently cut the balloons at the top so that they start to shrink and pull away from the chocolate.
Pipe out the trees on the parchment paper or acetate foil, sprinkle over some sugar sprinkles and set aside. When the chocolate sets, gently lift the trees and store in an airtight container.
Making the chocolate-orange mousse:
Cut the chocolate in tiny pieces and put in the heat-proof bowl, set aside. Pour 80 grams of heavy cream in a pan, add the vanilla extract, and bring to the boil. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and set aside for 2 minutes. Stir until the chocolate is incorporated, basically you have made a chocolate ganache here. Cool the ganache to room temperature. Whip the rest of the heavy cream (340 grams) to soft peaks. Add the whipped cream to the cooled chocolate ganache in three additions, stirring gently after each addition until all the cream is incorporated. Grate the orange zest over the mousse and stir. Cover and put in the fridge until set (about 30 minutes).
Making the meringue cookies:
Preheat the oven to 95°C (200°F).
Place the egg whites in a bowl of your electric or hand mixer and whisk until foamy, add a few drops of fresh lemon juice to the egg whites (this helps with the stabilization of the egg whites). Slowly begin adding the sugar a tablespoon at the time. Whisk until the sugar is completely incorporated. Take the small amount of mixture between you fingers, the mixture should not feel gritty, if it is whisk more until the mixture feels smooth. The meringue should be glossy and should hold stiff peaks.
Place the meringue in a piping bag (color the piping bag from inside with food coloring for colorful meringues) with a star attachment or you can just use a spoon. Pipe or spoon small amounts of meringue on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place in the oven and bake for 45 minutes or until the meringue looks dry (do not open the oven). Turn the oven off and leave the meringues in the oven for 1 hour or until completely cooled.
Making the walnut praline:
Put the sugar in a small pan and place on medium heat, when the sugar starts to melt shake the pan a few times to ensure that all of the sugar melts. Cook until the sugar is dark amber, shaking to ensure even browning of the sugar. Meanwhile place the walnuts on baking tray on top of the parchment paper.
When the sugar is dark amber pour it over the prepared walnuts, tilt the baking pan so that the caramel spreads around the pecans and evens out. Sprinkle over salt and set aside to cool.
When the caramel is cool enough break it into pieces and place it in the food processor. Blitz until you end up with fine crumbs.
Making the orange segments:
Peal the orange with the knife, slicing the skin away from the flesh. Remove any remaining white pith then cut between the membranes to slice away segments of the orange (Here is a step by step tutorial of segmenting an orange).
Assembly:
Place two scoops of chocolate mousse in a chocolate bowl . Place two orange segments at the sides of the chocolate mousse. Add the meringue cookies and sprinkle over some of the walnut praline. Place your decorations and stick the chocolate Christmas tree in the mousse, sprinkle with icing sugar.
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